    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [October 21, 2004]
    [Pages 2639-2646]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Hershey, Pennsylvania
    October 21, 2004

        The President. Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. So he said,
    ``A couple of hundred people might show up if you came.'' I came--
    thousands are here, and I'm grateful. You know what this tells me. With
    your help, we will carry Pennsylvania on November the 2d.
        Listen, we have a duty in our country to vote. And I'm asking you to
    turn to your friends and neighbors, go to your coffee shops, your houses
    of worship, your community centers, and tell people that we have a duty.
    And as you get people going to the polls, don't overlook discerning
    Democrats, people like Senator Zell Miller from
    Georgia. Our message is for everybody. If you want a safer America, a
    stronger America, and a better America, put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
        Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
        The President. Thank you all for coming. I am so grateful so many
    came. It means a lot. My only regret is that Laura is not here to see this crowd. She was a public school
    librarian when I met her for the second time. See, we went to the
    seventh grade together, San Jacinto Junior High in Midland, Texas. When
    I met her the second time and I finally asked her to marry me, she said,
    ``Fine, just so long as I never have to give a speech.'' [Laughter] I
    said, ``Okay, you got a deal.'' Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that
    promise. She's giving a lot of speeches, and when she does, the American
    people see a compassionate, strong, great First Lady. She is not with me
    today, but one of our twin daughters,
    Barbara, has come. Thank you for coming,
    baby. There's nothing better than campaigning for a President with a
    daughter you love.
        I'm proud of my Vice President, Dick Cheney.
    Now, look, I admit it, he does not have the waviest hair in the race.
    [Laughter] I did not pick him because of his hairdo. [Laughter] I picked
    him because of his experience, his judgment. I picked him because he can
    get the job done.
        I am proud to have been introduced to this great crowd by Major Dick
    Winters, an American hero who
    commanded Easy Company in World War II.
        I want to thank Congressman Todd Platts
    for joining us today. I'm proud you're here, Congressman. I want to
    thank the folks who are here from the statehouse and local office. I'm
    here to say as clearly as I can that Scott Paterno needs to be the next Congressman from the 17th
    Congressional District. I appreciate Tom Corbett, who is going to be the next attorney general, and Jean
    Craige Pepper, who's running for
    treasurer.
        But most of all, I want to thank you all for coming. It's getting
    close to voting time. It's time to crank up the phones. It's time to put
    up the signs. It is time to carry Pennsylvania.
        In the last few years, the people have come to know me. They know my
    blunt

    [[Page 2640]]

    way of speaking. I get that from my mother.
    They know I mangle the English language sometimes. I get that from my
    dad. [Laughter] Americans also know I tell
    you exactly what I'm going to do, and I keep my word.
        When I came into office, the stock market had been in serious
    decline for 6 months. And the American economy was sliding into a
    recession. To help families and to get this economy growing again, I
    pledged to reduce taxes. I kept my word. The results are clear. The
    recession was one of the shallowest in American history.
        Over the last 3 years, our economy has grown at rates as fast as any
    in nearly 20 years. The homeownership rate in America is at an alltime
    high. The past 13 months, we've added 1.9 million new jobs. The
    unemployment rate across our country is 5.4 percent--lower than the
    average rates of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. Farm income is up.
    This economy is moving forward, and we're not going to go back to the
    days of tax and spend.
        To make sure jobs are here in America, to make sure people can find
    work, America must be the best place in the world to do business. That
    means less regulations on our job creators. That means we've got to do
    something about these frivolous lawsuits that are plaguing small-
    business owners.
        To keep jobs here in America, Congress needs to pass my energy plan.
    It's a plan that encourages conservation and encourages renewables. It's
    a plan that encourages clean coal technology. It is a plan that
    recognizes, to keep jobs in America, we must be less dependent on
    foreign sources of energy.
        To keep jobs here in America, we must open up markets for U.S.
    products. Listen, we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere, so
    long as the rules are fair.
        To make sure this economy continues to grow, we've got to be wise
    about how we spend your money and keep the taxes low. Taxes are an issue
    in this campaign.
        Now, my opponent has his own history on
    the economy.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Yes. In 20 years as a Senator from Massachusetts,
    he's built a record of a Senator from
    Massachusetts. [Laughter] He's voted--he has voted to raise taxes 98
    times.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Yes. He voted to tax Social
    Security benefits.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Ninety-eight times in twenty years--that's about five
    times a year. I would call that a predictable pattern. See, he can run from his record, but he cannot hide.
        Now he's promising not to raise taxes for
    anyone who earns less than $200,000 a year. He said that with a straight
    face. [Laughter] The problem is, to keep that promise he'd have to break
    all his other promises. He has promised $2.2 trillion in new Federal
    spending. That's trillion with a ``T.'' And so they said, ``How are you
    going to pay for it?'' And he said, fine, he's just going to raise taxes
    on the rich. Now, you've heard that before. When you try to raise taxes
    on the rich, that raises between 600 billion and 800 billion. There's a
    gap between what he's promised and how he says he's going to pay for it.
    And guess who usually gets to fill the gap?
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. There's something else wrong with the ``tax the
    rich'' slogan. The rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason: to
    slip the bill and pass it to you. We are not going to let him tax you; we will carry Pennsylvania and win on
    November the 2d.
        Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
        The President. When I came into office, our public schools had been
    waiting decades for hopeful reform. Too many of our children were being
    shuffled through school without learning the basics. I pledged to
    restore accountability in the

    [[Page 2641]]

    school and to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. I kept my
    word. We passed the No Child Left Behind Act, and we're seeing results.
    Our children are making sustained gains in reading and math. We're
    closing achievement gaps all around this country, and we're not going to
    go back the days of low standards and accepted mediocrity.
        When I came into office, we had a problem in Medicare. Medicine was
    changing, but Medicare was not. For example, we'd pay hundreds--tens of
    thousands of dollars for heart surgery but not one dime for the
    prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from being
    needed in the first place. That did not make any sense to our seniors.
    It wasn't right. I pledged to bring Republicans and Democrats together
    to strengthen and modernize Medicare. I kept my word. Seniors are
    getting discounts on medicine. And beginning in 2006, all seniors will
    be able to get prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
        We got more to do on health care. We've got to make sure health care
    is available and affordable. We'll have a safety net for those with the
    greatest needs. That's why I believe in community health centers for the
    poor and the indigent. We'll do more to make sure poor children are
    fully subscribed in our programs for low-income families.
        Most of the uninsured in America work for small businesses. Small
    businesses are having trouble affording health care. To enable small
    businesses to afford health care, we must allow them to pool together so
    they can buy insurance at the same discount big companies get to do. We
    will expand health savings accounts so workers and small businesses are
    able to pay lower premiums and people can save tax-free in a health care
    account they manage and call their own.
        To make sure health care is available and affordable, we have to do
    something about the frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of
    medicine and running good doctors out of practice. You have a problem
    here in the State of Pennsylvania because of these junk lawsuits. You're
    losing too many good docs. Too many ob-gyns are leaving the practice.
    Too many pregnant women are wondering whether or not they're going to
    get the health care they need in order to bring their child into this
    world. The system is broken. You cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and
    pro-personal-injury-lawyer at the same time. You have to make a choice.
    My opponent put a personal injury
    lawyer on the ticket.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. He voted against medical
    liability reform 10 times. I'm standing with the doctors. I'm standing
    with the patients. I'm standing with the people of Pennsylvania. I'm for
    medical liability reform--now.
        I laid out a health care plan that's sensible and reasonable. Now,
    my opponent has got his health care plan of
    his own. And it's a plan for bigger Government.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Now, the other day in the debate, he looked right in the camera again, and he said this about
    his health care plan: ``The Government has nothing to do with it.'' I
    remember him saying that. I was standing right there. [Laughter] I could
    barely contain myself. The Government has got a lot to do with his
    health care plan. Eight out of ten Americans would end up on a
    Government health insurance program. Eight million Americans would lose
    their private health insurance at work, and most would go on a
    Government plan. He says his plan helps small businesses. That's what--
    that's not what small-business groups think. They've called it an
    overpriced albatross that would saddle small businesses with 225 new
    mandates.
        I have a different view. We've got to help small businesses afford
    insurance, not saddle them with a bunch of rules and regulations from
    Washington, DC. In all we do to reform health care, I believe the

    [[Page 2642]]

    health decisions need to be made by doctors and patients, not by
    officials in our Nation's Capital.
        I'll continue to set out policies for an optimistic and hopeful
    America. I believe this country should be an ownership society. You
    know, there's a saying, no one ever washes a rental car. [Laughter]
    There's a lot of wisdom in that statement. When you own something, you
    care about it. When you own something in America, you care about the
    future of our country.
        That's why we promote entrepreneurship in this administration. Every
    time a small business is started in America, somebody is achieving the
    American Dream. We're encouraging health savings accounts so people have
    the security of owning and managing their own health care account. We're
    encouraging homeownership. Listen, more and more people are able to open
    up the door where they live and say, ``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my
    piece of property.'' And America is better off for it.
        In a new term, we'll take the next step to build an ownership
    society by strengthening Social Security. Now, let me speak to the
    seniors who are here. You remember the 2000 campaign when they were
    running the TV ads that said, ``If George W. gets elected, the seniors
    will not get their checks.'' That's old-style scare politics. I want you
    to remind your friends and neighbors, they got their checks. They'll
    continue to get their checks. And baby boomers like me are in pretty
    good shape when it comes to the Social Security trust fund.
        But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren. See,
    we need to worry about whether or not the Social Security trust will be
    solvent when they need help in retirement. I think younger workers ought
    to be allowed to take some of their payroll taxes and set up a personal
    savings account that earns a better rate of return, an account they call
    their own, an account the Government cannot take away.
        When it comes to Social Security, as you heard the other night in
    the debates, my opponent wants to maintain the
    status quo.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. The job of a President is to confront problems, not
    pass them on to future generations or future Presidents. He's against the Social Security reforms I laid out, and
    he's against about every other reform that gives more authority and
    control to the individual. On issue after issue, from Medicare without
    choices to schools with less accountability to raising taxes, he takes
    the side of more centralized control and more Government.
        There is a word for that attitude. There is a word for that
    philosophy. It is called liberalism. Now, he
    dismisses that word as a label. He must have seen it differently when he
    said, ``I'm a liberal and proud of it.'' [Laughter] The others have
    noticed as well. There's a nonpartisan National Journal magazine that
    did a study and named him the most liberal Member of the United States
    Senate. That takes a lot of hard work in that bunch. [Laughter] Can you
    imagine being more liberal than Ted Kennedy?
        Audience members. No-o-o!
        The President. He can run--he can even run
    in camo--but he cannot hide.
        I have a different record. I have a different philosophy. I do not
    believe in big Government, and I do not believe Government should be
    indifferent. I'm what I call a compassionate conservative. I believe in
    policies that empower people to improve their lives, not try to run
    their lives. We'll continue to help men and women all across this
    country find the skills and tools they need to prosper in a time of
    change, skills and tools necessary to realize the great promise of our
    country. That's how I have led, and that's how I will continue to lead
    for 4 more years.
        Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
        The President. In this time of change, some things do not change.
    Those are the

    [[Page 2643]]

    values we try to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and
    integrity. In changing times, we will support the institutions that give
    our lives direction and purpose, our families, our schools, our
    religious congregations. We stand for a culture of life in which every
    person matters and every being counts. We stand for marriage and family,
    which are the foundations of our society. We stand for the second
    amendment, which protects every American's individual right to bear
    arms. We stand for the appointment of Federal judges who know the
    difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the
    law.
        My opponent's words on these issues are a
    little muddy, but his record is plenty clear. He says he supports the
    institution of marriage but voted against the Defense of Marriage Act.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. He voted against the ban on
    the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. He called the Reagan years
    as a period of moral darkness.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. There is a mainstream in American politics, and my
    opponent sits on the far left bank. During
    this campaign, he can run, but he cannot hide.
        This election will also determine how America responds to the
    continuing danger of terrorism. I believe the most solemn duty of the
    American President is to protect the American people. If America shows
    uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward
    tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.
        Since that terrible morning of September the 11th, 2001, we have
    fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for pride, not for power,
    but because the lives of our citizens are at stake. Our strategy is
    clear. We are defending the homeland. I thank the first-responders who
    are here with us today. We're strengthening our intelligence. We're
    transforming our military. We will not have a draft. The All-Volunteer
    Army will remain an all-volunteer army. We are staying on the offensive.
    We will strike the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here
    at home. We will spread freedom and liberty. And we will prevail.
        Our strategy is succeeding. Think about the world, the way it was
    some 3\1/2\ years ago--think about this. Afghanistan was the home base
    of Al Qaida. Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist groups. Saudi
    Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fundraising. Libya was secretly
    pursuing nuclear weapons. Iraq was a dangerous place and a gathering
    threat. And Al Qaida was largely unchallenged as it planned horrific
    attacks.
        Because the United States of America led, Afghanistan is an ally in
    the war on terror and is now a free nation; Pakistan is capturing
    terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests; Libya is
    dismantling its weapons programs; the army of a free Iraq is fighting
    for its country's freedom; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's
    associates and members have been brought to justice.
        We are standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. I want the
    youngsters here to understand what has taken place during a brief period
    of your life. It wasn't all that long ago that young girls couldn't go
    to school in Afghanistan. It wasn't all that long ago that their mothers
    were taken into the public square and whipped because they wouldn't toe
    the line of these ideologues of hate called the Taliban. It wasn't all
    that long ago that the people of that country lived in darkness. Because
    we acted in our own self-interest, because we acted to destroy the Al
    Qaida terrorists' training camps, because we worked to secure ourselves,
    25 million people live in freedom. They had Presidential elections a
    couple of weekends ago in Afghanistan. The first voter in Afghanistan
    was a 19-year-old girl. Freedom is on the
    march, and the people of Afghanistan have gone from darkness to light.

    [[Page 2644]]

        The people of Iraq will be voting for a President in January. Think
    how far that society has come from the day of torture chambers and mass
    graves. It's in our interest that we spread freedom. Free societies will
    be hopeful societies which no longer feed resentments and breed violence
    for export. Free governments in the Middle East will fight the
    terrorists instead of harboring them. Freedom will help us keep the
    peace we all want. Freedom is on the move, and America is more secure
    for it.
        So our mission is clear--our mission is clear. We will help these
    countries train armies and police forces and security forces in
    Afghanistan and Iraq so they can do the hard work of defending their
    freedom, so they can stand up and fight these terrorists who are trying
    to stop the advance of freedom. We'll help the countries get on the path
    of stability and democracy as quickly as possible, and then our troops
    will come home with the honor they have earned.
        We have a great United States military because those who wear the
    uniform are people of such great character and service and duty and
    honor. And I want to thank the veterans who are here today for having
    set such a great example for those who wear the uniform. And I want to
    thank the military families who are here for the sacrifices you have
    made. And I assure you, we'll keep the commitment we have made to the
    troops and their families. They will have the resources they need to
    complete their missions.
        That's why I went to the Congress in September of 2003 and asked for
    $87 billion of supplemental funding to support our troops in harm's way.
    I received great bipartisan support. Your Senators, Senator
    Specter and Santorum, voted with me on that bill. It was an important piece of
    legislation. Most people up in Congress understood how important it was.
    As a matter of fact, only 12 Members of the United States Senate voted
    against funding for our troops, 2 of whom were my opponent and his runningmate.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Now, I want to tell you another startling statistic.
    When you're out gathering the vote--I want to tell you another startling
    statistic, a true fact. There were only 4 Members of the United States
    Senate--4 out of 100--that had voted to authorize the use of force and
    then voted against the funding to support our troops in harm's way, 2 of
    whom are my opponent and his
    runningmate.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. So they asked him how he
    could have made that vote. They asked him how he could have made that
    vote. And you might remember perhaps the most famous quote of the 2004
    campaign. Here is what he said: ``I actually did vote for the $87
    billion, before I voted against it.''
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. They kept asking him, and
    he kept answering. He must have given five or six different
    explanations. One of the most interesting ones of all is he finally
    said, ``The whole thing was a complicated matter.'' [Laughter] There's
    nothing complicated about supporting our troops in harm's way.
        All elections come down to a choice, and in this, America's first
    Presidential election since September the 11th, the security of our
    country is at risk in many ways different than we have ever faced
    before. We're in the midst of a global war against a well-trained,
    highly motivated enemy, an enemy that has no conscience, an enemy that
    hates Americans because of the very freedoms we love. The next Commander
    in Chief must lead us to victory in this war. Yet, you cannot win a war
    when you do not believe you are fighting one.
        Senator Kerry was recently asked how
    September the 11th had changed him. And he replied this: ``It did not
    change me much at all.'' End quote.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!

    [[Page 2645]]

        The President. His unchanged world becomes obvious when he calls the war against terror primarily an
    intelligence and law enforcement operation rather than a war which
    requires the full use of American strength. Senator Kerry's top foreign
    policy advisor questioned this is even
    a war at all. And here's what he said: ``We're not in a war on terror in
    a literal sense. It's like saying `the war on poverty'--it's just a
    metaphor.'' End quote. It's a different mindset, a different attitude.
    Confusing food programs with terrorist killings reveals a fundamental
    misunderstanding of the world we live in, of the world we face. And this
    is very dangerous thinking.
        Senator Kerry also misunderstands our
    battle against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq. He called Iraq a
    ``diversion'' from the war on terror. Let me talk about the case of one
    terrorist to show you how wrong this thinking is. The terrorist leader
    we face today in Iraq, the one responsible for car bombings and
    beheadings of Americans, is a man named Zarqawi. Zarqawi ran a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan until
    our military arrived. He then went to Iraq. He received medical care in
    Iraq. He plotted and planned in Iraq. To confirm where he's coming from,
    just the other day Zarqawi announced his allegiance to Usama bin
    Laden. Zarqawi and his associates were not
    busy fighting American forces in Iraq, does my opponent think they would
    be living peaceful and productive lives? Course not. That's why Iraq is
    not a diversion but a central commitment in the war on terror.
        The Senator the other day talked about the
    need for America to pass a ``global test'' when it comes to committing
    our troops.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. I'm not making that up. He
    was standing right there when he said it. No, we'll work with our
    friends and allies. I'll continue to build alliances and strong
    coalitions. But I will never turn over America's national security
    decisions to leaders of other countries.
        Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
        The President. I believe in the transformational power of liberty.
    That's what I believe. I believe liberty can transform nations. One of
    our friends--Laura and my friends is Prime
    Minister of Japan. He's a friend. I saw
    him at the United Nations in New York. I said, ``Listen, I'm going to be
    talking about you on the campaign trail. Do you mind?'' He said, ``No,
    go ahead and talk about me.'' I said, ``Okay.'' What he didn't--I didn't
    ask him permission to tell you that Elvis is his favorite singer.
    [Laughter] We've gotten to know him quite well.
        It probably doesn't sound much to folks out there, that I would call
    him my friend. But remember, 60 years ago, we were at war with Japan.
    They were the sworn enemy of the United States of America. My dad, like many of his generation, like many of the
    Band of Brothers, fought against the Japanese--people of that generation
    served. And your dads and granddads did the same, I'm confident.
        After we won the war, Harry S. Truman, President of the United
    States, believed that liberty could transform an enemy into an ally.
    That's what he believed. There was a lot of skepticism about that, a lot
    of doubt. There was a lot of anger because of the war, and you can
    understand why. Families' lives have been turned upside down because of
    death during the war. A lot of people just said, ``Well, the enemy can't
    possibly become a democracy.'' But our predecessors stayed with it. And
    as a result of that belief, I sit down at the table today talking about
    how to keep the peace with Prime Minister Koizumi.
        Someday, an American President will be sitting down with a duly
    elected leader of Iraq, talking about peace in the Middle East. And our
    children and our grandchildren will be better off for it.
        I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in silence for
    their liberty. I believe women in the Middle East want to live

    [[Page 2646]]

    in a free society. I believe mothers and fathers in the Middle East want
    to raise their children in a free and peaceful world. I believe all
    these things because freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom
    is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
        For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand
    apart. There are quiet times in the life of a nation when little is
    expected of its leaders. This isn't one of those times. This is a time
    that requires firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep faith in the values
    that makes us a great nation.
        None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another
    began. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin
    Towers. It is a day I will never forget. I will never forget the voices
    of those in hardhats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever
    it takes.'' I will never forget the police or firefighter coming out of
    the rubble who grabbed me by the arm, and he looked me square in the
    eye, and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' Ever since that day--ever
    since that day, I wake up every morning thinking about how to better
    protect our country. I will never relent in defending America, whatever
    it takes.
        Four years ago, when I traveled your great State asking for the
    vote, I made a pledge that if you gave me a chance to serve, I would
    uphold the honor and the dignity of the office to which I have been
    elected. With your help, with your hard work, I will do so for 4 more
    years.
        God bless. Thanks for coming. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:20 p.m. at Hershey Park Stadium. In his
    remarks, he referred to Tom Corbett, candidate for Pennsylvania State
    Attorney General; Jean Craige Pepper, candidate for Pennsylvania State
    Treasurer; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Usama bin
    Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and Prime Minister
    Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.